Fujisash returned parts uninspected and parked 7,789 idle molds on 46 suppliers

Fujisash Co., Ltd. (不二サッシ), a Kawasaki-based aluminum sash manufacturer with ¥1.71 billion in capital, received a Japan Fair Trade Commission recommendation on July 24, 2025 under Japan's Subcontract Act, on two counts: returning parts as defective without inspecting them, and having 46 suppliers store its idle tooling for free.

The mechanics were procedural, not quality-driven. Fujisash's intake confirmed packaging, part numbers and quantities — never product quality. From December 2023 it returned parts to 20 suppliers citing defects, ¥4,216,930 worth including return shipping some suppliers had to pay. Seven suppliers also sorted good parts from bad at least sixteen times — unpaid labor separating the buyer's own inventory. Meanwhile 46 firms warehoused 7,789 of its molds through long order droughts; many weighed 20–30 kg, the heaviest about 420 kg, and some had sat stored since 1976, ordered exactly once.

The company's internal logic survived contact with no counterparty. Its purchasing staff said they had assumed quality inspection was delegated to suppliers and priced into quotes — the JFTC found no supplier had confirmed any such delegation. On storage, staff said they knew fees were owed but assumed they could be offset against proceeds from selling unneeded molds to the suppliers, and noted no supplier had ever asked. Asahi counted this as the 20th free-mold-storage recommendation since March 2023, the same sweep that reached Toyota group companies and heater maker Corona.

¥4,216,930 of returns and shipping across 20 suppliers, plus storage fees owed on 7,789 molds warehoused free by 46 firms — some since 1976, weighing up to 420 kg

An intake process that skips quality checks makes every later complaint — or none — a justification for return at the supplier's cost.

Sorting good parts from bad is manufacturing work; demanding it free is an unlawful economic benefit extracted in labor, not cash.

Idle molds are the buyer's capital inventory, and warehousing is a paid service; 'no one asked us to pay' describes supplier fear, not a valid terms.

Management ran on undocumented assumptions — inspection delegated, fees offset by resale. 'No one ever asked us to pay' describes supplier reluctance to confront a customer, not an agreement.

Accept a delivery without testing it and the right to reject it is gone — 'defective' becomes whatever the buyer says. And storing the buyer's idle tooling is a service no supplier owes for free.

The recommendation orders Fujisash to re-take returnable parts and pay for the rest, repay the shipping pushed onto suppliers, compensate the sorting work, and pay mold storage fees — all in amounts the JFTC must confirm — plus board resolutions, training and notice to suppliers. By then it had opened storage-fee consultations with suppliers. Asahi quoted a representative accepting the rebuke and pledging stronger compliance, and counted this as the 20th free-mold-storage recommendation since March 2023 — an industry-wide habit the regulator is working through company by company.